Write about a practical joke you pulled off, or a practical joke that was played on you.
Today’s writing prompt:
“Readers covet an emotional experience above all else. When you write scenes, use all the methods you can to help your readers feel the emotions you want them to have—sadness, anger, confusion, mistrust, love, lust, envy, greed and so on. If you want readers to hate your character, show him being despicable to someone who doesn’t deserve his wrath or to someone he supposedly loves. The more you draw readers in to the emotional experience, the more they will engage, and the more likely they’ll want to read your next book.”
Excerpted from the September 2016 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine
There are over 300 prompts on The Write Spot Blog. Choose one and practice incorporating emotions in your writing. For example: Physical gestures can reveal emotions . . . Prompt # 211
Just write!
Guest Blogger Suzanne Murray writes about how surrender can help creativity:We can’t force creativity. We know this intuitively. If we told a painter that we wanted a masterpiece by five o’clock tomorrow, he or she would look at us like we were crazy, that we clearly didn’t understand what being creative was all about.
An important part of being creative is learning to surrender to the flow of the universe, allowing something greater than our everyday self to move through us. It’s not something we can figure out with our linear mind.
Of course, if we want to paint we need to learn how to work with our chosen medium and studying the work of the masters can help. If we want to write it’s really valuable to read widely and deeply, to show up daily to put pen to paper and perhaps take a workshop on form we want to work with.
Yet at the heart of being creative is letting go and allowing the ideas, the inspiration to move through us. This is where practice comes in. As Flannery O’Connor said of her writing experience, “I show up at my office everyday between 8 am and noon. I’m not sure that anything is going to happen but I want to be there if it does.”
I recently sat next to a young man in Starbucks who had a set of watercolors laid out and quickly produced a couple of small paintings that were quite lovely. We spoke of creativity and how so many people think you either have it or you don’t. “Yeah,” he said, “really it’s a muscle, you’ve got to use.” He went on to say “No matter how lousy I feel, if I do even a couple of little paintings I instantly feel better
I feel the same way about writing, even if it’s just a page of free writing where I just let the words flow out of the pen. Being creative feels good and lightens our mood because we become more present to the moment, quiet our chattering minds, and allow for the awareness of our heart and knowing to do the work. In the surrender we find ourselves in an expanded state of consciousness were we can do things we didn’t think we could.
Originally posted on Suzanne Murray’s Blog, March 2017
Suzanne Murray is a gifted creativity and writing coach, soul-based life coach, writer, poet, EFT practitioner and intuitive healer committed to empowering others to find the freedom to ignite their creative fire, unleash their imagination and engage their creative expression in every area of their lives. She works with simple, powerful techniques to help clear whatever gets in the way and creates a safe and sacred space for your creative and soulful life to blossom. She provides an experience of the joy and beauty that comes from embracing your gifts and expressing them in the world. With a lifelong connection to the natural world, she enjoys sharing the grace and wonder that Nature can bring to your life and creativity.
Think of a house or an apartment you lived in – either where you grew up or one that comes to you most strongly: a place that seems most pertinent or the place you want to discover more about.
Use a pen or pencil and draw a blueprint of the house or apartment.
Sketch the floor plan, include doors (front, back, side), stairs, and each room within the house. Let your hand and mind be the guides. Don’t worry about getting it exactly correct.
Use color to explore
When you feel done with the blueprint, use color to explore the house/apartment and your feelings.
Color the rooms, or outline the rooms, using the actual or basic color of the walls, the rugs and furniture.
When you feel done with coloring, write whatever comes up.
Examples
The house was yellow I hated that color. It made me think of . . .
The red front door stood out like . . .
My pink/blue room was a sanctuary. I could . . .
I liked the green kitchen best. This is where I . . .
You can also write opposites:
The house was yellow. I loved that color. I never realized until now . . .
The red front door blended in. I never thought . . .
My pink/blue room was hellish. I could never . . .
I disliked the green kitchen the most. This is where I didn’t . . .
Go where your mind wants to go. Just write.
There are tacky gifts, insulting gifts, selfish gifts the giver secretly wants, cheap gifts and re-gifted gifts.
But some gifts are transcendent. Have you ever received such a perfect gift? One that amazed you with its imagination? Perhaps it was a gift that completely touched your heart, changed your life, or opened a new world. Maybe it was a gift so dear you held on to it for a lifetime. What was it and why was it so special to you?
Prompt: Your best gift or your all-time favorite gift.
There’s a lot going on in the world. Upheaval, turmoil, chaos, unity, freedom, marches, democracy.
Those are some of the words/concepts I’m thinking as I write this blog post.
Today’s prompt is similar to my August 12, 2014 blog post, quoting screenwriter and author, Antwone Fisher, about why he writes.
I write for a variety of reasons: For clarification, to share thoughts, for enlightenment, plus all the things I mentioned in the 8/12/14 post.
Now, it’s your turn. Why do you write?
Many of us have vignettes, little stories of things that happened, that we could write about: Events or situations that enlightened, inspired, or changed us. All are memorable and could be written. But why? Why should you write these stories?
“All humans understand and use story on an intuitive level. It’s our most effective teaching tool. It’s how we understand our world, ourselves and each other. It’s how we make and deepen our connections. It’s how we draw meaning from experience.” — Deb Norton, “Story Structure, Simplified,” WritersDigest, February 2017
What if there was a recipe for this type of writing like there is for voodoo doughnuts?
“Learning when to throw the flour, proper handling of a rolling pin, the intricacies of an old fashion, the ‘flip,’ and countless other tricks of the trade were now in the hands, minds, and notebooks of Cat Daddy and Tres.” Voodoo Doughnut
Recipe for Writing Vignettes
Learning when to throw in anecdotes, proper handling of strong verbs, the intricacies of memory, the fear of exposure, and countless other tricks of the trade are in your hands and your creative mind. There are many resources to help shape your creation.
Click Memoir for recipes . . . how-to ideas . . . for writing anecdotes. Now, get to creating!
“Writing essays is like therapy because you’re figuring out: What was the important thing in that incident? ” — Etgar Keret
Keret, an “acclaimed Israeli writer . . . known for his unique and distinctive writing style” began writing essays after the birth of his son.
“. . . because I’m sensitive about family issues. . . It never stops me from writing it, but it might stop me from publishing it.” He wrote personal essays to “have a literary tombstone” for his father. He is able to create work that is “moving and deeply affecting in only a few pages.”
Excerpted from the February 2017 issue of The Writer magazine.
Your turn: No pressure to write the next great American novel, just write what you know, what you experience. Write about your trip to the grocery store where you observed an act of kindness or had a weird encounter. Write about your ordinary-to-you holiday event . . . something you will find later and be glad you captured those exquisite moments that you had forgotten: The funny story your grandfather told, your sweet aunt and her infectious laugh, the annoying presents you received from your equally annoying cousin/uncle/sister/friend. Write the good stuff, the bad stuff and the in-between stuff. Just write.